Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A Tale of Two Tyrants

To a casual observer our foreign policy is in shambles and in the Arab Spring we are being lapped daily if not hourly by events we seem not to understand, predict or know how to respond even if only a knee jerk. Obama decides Khadafi must go then departs, then warns we will use all force to protect civilians but not ground troops, and after cruise orchestra tries to unload command and control to the French and Brits. Ali in Yemen is killing civilians left and right and is probably a stronger supported of Al-Quaida, but we do nothing. Libya has oil the West needs and Yemen has sorghum which the West does not. If Obama does not have the skills to manage foreign policy and military matters when will the lights go on so he will augment his team? An Iambic commentary:

The Sands of Confusion

It is a tale of two nations and so easy to become confused
In one, we support the leader with unbridled enthuse
In the other, Obama tells him it is time for him to go
Then leaves from the sound bite stage
Sure enough his jets and tanks act in unchecked rage
Too late cruise missiles descend in a mini fireworks show
We support Yemen’s leader when his military will not
Hard to be a general when civilians keep getting shot
One leader holds al-Quaida in great distaste
The other cheered when Hussein put Kuwait to waste
True, in revenge, one leader brought down a Pan Am jet to the turf
But the other stood aside as the Cole suicide skiff went plying through the surf
Yet Ali we support as his generals bail
And Mouammar we subject to the cruise missiles’ hail
Now Mouammar sits on huge pools of oil,
While for Ali the lands yields little no matter the toil
Do we have any idea of the rationale for courses we take?
Whether under missiles or civilian protest the sands of both quiver and shake?
Is Ella live or is it Memorex as the glass quickly shatters
Is it oil or do our principles really matter?
Hard to tell but sand shifts and can become very quick
Bogging us down like a rerun of a sick, bloody Vietnam flick
(c) March 22, 2011 Michael P. Ridley

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Where Have All The Poets Gone

Our news is delivered in clipped prose by media biased to the core with teleprompters that make them appear brilliant and commented upon by the talking heads, interrupting and talking over each other. This Alaskanpoet is going to review the Charles Osgood tradition and bring back the commentary the way it must have been done thousands of years ago, when events were recorded and brought back to life by muses. I will still tweet daily with the new art form in a 24/7 world---a 140 character byte poem on an event of the day. Hope you enjoy

Madison Warriors
The Kerner Report mourned about two nations, one black, one white.
It is now crystal clear that it was only partially right
It is time for us once again to mourn
For another two nations are being born
A public sector entrenched with huge union coffers to spend
To elect those who will insure their bloated benefits do not end
Madison is one of the first shots from a modern day Concord
Where rational discourse has been put to the union sword
It is almost like Stalin's order of "not one more step back"
Not a penny shed of the benefits most in the private sector lack
Images of the statehouse halls with throngs demanding any cut's defeat
If more beards and farsi signs, likeness to an embassy seized would be complete
A President who but weeks ago at a tragic service in Tucson
Seemed a unifying force to shed the hate and for healing to move on
With a deficit growing by billions each and every week
Blames the Badger Reds for the deficit relief they try to seek
The Blue leaders in a bus flee across state lines to hide
Heads in the sand, maybe Madison's red ink by magic will subside
Make no mistake, no matter what the media spin
Madison is the first battle of a war we taxpayers must win.
We have already seen a seizure of government in reverse
Flee the state and you eliminate the power to mend the purse
Look for the Union Label—lyrics of a pro union tune
Now worn by elected Blues, as we dance our way to ruin
(c) 2011 Michael P Ridley aka the Alaskan Poet
haracter byte poem on an event of the day. Hope you enjoy